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What difference does it make? The car is the same there (terms of weight) and so are the tyre dimensions. The only difference is weather but that's why you have winter and summer tyres that you change twice a year.

Four little letters at the end of my post. You want to run your tyres at 27.5 psi no one is stopping you.

Recommended tyre pressures from the manufacturer are a compromise to make the car ride more comfortably. I've driven cars with tyres inflated with less than 30 psi. They handle like shit. I'd rather compromise some ride comfort and have the steering feel like it's doing something rather than the tyre feel like it's going to roll off thr rim.

I think it comes down to the car and the driver. Obviously different cars will dictate different tyre pressures (as does the condition of the surfaces you're driving on), but there's always going to be different preferences for each individual driver.

In the Corsa SRi on 16s I ran 32psi all the way round with no problems. Put the 17s on with 205/40R17s and tyres were running around 38psi. Problem with that was, it felt skittish at highway speeds and was as rough as guts to drive on some roads. Dropped the pressures to 32psi and no problems at all.

Bear in mind that when you go to a servo to adjust your tyre pressures, that your tyres will have some heat in them and it affects the reading of the gauge (not that servo tyre inflators are accurate). The tyre pressures usually stated on the placard, in the manual and on the sidewall of tyre are actually for "cold" or ambient conditions. As a result, if I use the servo inflators, I usually add 2psi to the machine/gauge readings to get the pressure I want.

go to 31 psi mate and you're just fine. minimum in europe is 2.1 bar which is a bit over 30 psi. Then they have different road material in Europe which allows for lower pressures for safety and still have good fuel usage

just went to petrol station with a digital compressor and took them up to 33. some of my tyres were down to 24! I couldn't believe it. Have to check them more often than once every few months (*setting reminder*)

I'm having trouble deciding between Bridge RE002's and yoko C drives.
The tyres I have on now are... ok... at best, (I've entered a round-about at 15km/ and brake harder to save entering the other lane) so I'm pretty keen for more grip.. not Overly fussed on tread wear, But I will be doing a 5k round trip soon, so don't want them stuffed by the time I get back.

So what's peoples thoughts on both, if you've driven both, how do they match up performance wise?

Alternatively, Best tyre for an Astra G, under $150

Originally Posted by Raist

..... oh... well that's a fair gap, BUT, a lot longer (if treated right) span than I was expecting. I'm a little more used to asking about tyres and being told if daily >40
I'm going to see what I can do to twist the minister of finances' arm into allowing this >before< the trip *as I'll no doubt hear about 'if you don't drive it so hard the ones we have will be fine.* to which my reply would be, 'we may as well fly there and back if I'm not allowed to drive the roads I picked out the way I want to.' .... mind you she drives the same way, taught her myself

.................................Ssssoooo........ I'm glad to report that we made the trip and back, including a really spirited run entering from Cooma side of the Snowy Mountain Highway heading north, then onto 'The Link Rd', left onto Goat Ridge Rd/ Swampy Plains Creek Rd, left onto Alpine Way, turning back around Thredbo, doubling back up Goat Ridge/ S.P.C Rd, through Elliott Way and onto Tooma Rd, making our way to Table Top, NSW. Where we pulled in for the night.

Four note worthy things to mention in saying all this....

1: This was done on the tires I was looking to replace BEFORE the trip......

2: My brakes were cooked about 15mins into the south bound section of Goat Ridge Rd, leaving the poor engine to do most of the braking for the rest of the twisties as the pedal felt much like a puddle of mud ... Also made for a really interesting test of skills... and luck.

3: Most of the roads in the above travel are ~1.5 cars wide, 100Kp/h with warning signs that may as well say 'Hope you started braking for this corner before this sign became legible!'. Including a 'recommended' 15Km/h hairpin!!! Not to mention the state of the surfaces in bits left a lot to be desired.. and my partners claw marks in the dash pad and permanent grip marks on the jesus bar.

4: I replaced the brakes Friday just past.... I honestly can't believe I've been able to maintain 'grandma mode' behind the wheel for this whole time.

PS: Just ordered a set of RE003's ... which unfortunately won't be in until next month ..... Figured they were all well over due...

I also HIGHLY recommend doing that run, around December-May as part of it's closed outside of those months, for fans of both tight, twisty roads, and for those that like a good view..
Just do your brakes and tyres before you go.... and for all our safety, take care in the blinds and stick to your side of the road.

TLDR: Was lazy, Had a Ball!, Trip Recommendation, New rubbers on order.

OK, so the RE003's arrived Thursday and were fitted Friday. I'm Chuffed with the tyres so far, I didn't know the car could handle that well, not to mention the extra grip lending itself to better acceleration.
Until 400km's later... Sunday morning, my brother-in-law walks in and says 'who owns the Astra?'
After going out to find that I was screwed, I changed over to the spare which I'd admittedly ignored for the last few years... 8psi was the lesson there
Although the tyre itself had remained unused for it's time in the boot, it was there for quite a few years and I couldn't tell if it was holding air, looked lower the second time I looked at it.
Got it to a servo a couple of K's down the road, then decided to head to the next town..... 80km's down the road... That was the most stressful 80km's I'driven, not knowing if the tyre's holding its own.. handling went to shit with it pulling to the left (spare on rear left) and it felt like cornering needed more input.

I overlooked this the first few glances, thinking it was just a standard piece of stone..